The present invention is relative to a protected embrasure for fighting vehicles and it is also relative to an armed fighting vehicle comprising a protected embrasure.
It is known that armed fighting vehicles comprise turrets provided with firearms, such as heavy-machine guns, cannons or howitzers, if necessary two-barreled or four-barreled, which are able to perform zenithal (or elevation) or azimuthal rotations, in order to hit one or more targets.
It is also known that, when the firearm is mounted in the turret, it can be subject to great changes of the elevation angle; in this way, the front part of the turret and, in particular, the part immediately adjacent to the barrel or carriage of the firearm itself are prone to be hit by ammunitions of the enemies .
Therefore, there is a high risk for the most sensitive parts of the firearm to be hit by the ammunitions of the enemies, thus allowing the ammunitions of the enemies to penetrate a sensitive area inside the turret itself, which usually is in direct communication with the rest of the armed fighting vehicle. As a consequence, the operators of the vehicle and, in particular, the so-called “crew manning the gun” are directly exposed to enemy fire or, anyway, are scarcely protected from it.
Protection plates are known, which form vehicles with armor platings against the enemy ammunitions, and which are arranged in a fixed manner immediately in front of the turret and surround the barrel of the cannon, of the heavy-machine gun or of the howitzer. Though, these protection plates are not suitable for firearms that lay upwards with high elevation angles and, even worse, present mechanical-structural constraints when laying downwards with elevation angles lower than zero (the zero angle corresponding to the horizontal shooting). Indeed, the turret might not be mounted in a position high enough with respect to the hull of the fighting vehicle to adopt a fixed plate and, at the same time, be able to lay at targets with a sufficient negative elevation angle.